SIX DOWN SIX TO GO

November 1, 2011 Dateline: Aberdeen, MS USA

For the past two days I have continued my trip down the Tom Bigbee Waterway. I have not been leaving port until about 9 AM after the morning river fog lifts.  I have now passed through 6 of the 12 locks. The largest lock I dealt with was a 84 foot drop.  For most of the time I traveled with 5 other boats.  We had a plan so we went into the lock just as smooth as we exited.  The locks on the Waterway have floating bollards, Carol gets a line on the bollard and ties it off to me. This holds me close to the wall. When all boats are tied securely, the lockmaster begins to let the water out and I begin to go down until I reach the height of the water on the lower side of the lock.

What does it look like inside a 94 foot high lock when the doors open?  Well here is a picture.  You can see the waterline on the door and how far down the boats were lowered.

The Waterway is full of sticks; let me restate that, it is full of dead tree trunks and very large branches.  The Army Corps of Engineers have boats that go up and down the Waterway to remove them from the channel.

The entrance to tonight’s marina was, to say the least, challenging.  The water is shallow and the channel narrow.  I am sure that the exit will be just as interesting tomorrow morning----after the fog lifts. 

The sunset, through the trees, was very pretty tonight.

Skipper with personal floatation device